midigod:SacriliciousBeerSwiller: They don't even know it's not a freaking gas-ball. The "super earth" speculation seems to serve no purpose but to get people to pay attention to what would otherwise be fairly mundane.

A few years ago the tech to discover exoplanets didn't even exist, and now it's just "mundane?"

Holy shiat.

/no words

Look at it this way. The discovery of exoplanets is becoming so common that news about them has to be trumped up to draw attention.

Article content: "Tuomi went on to say that there is a 50 percent chance that HD 40307g would be a rocky planet like Earth, but there is insufficient data to know whether its a large Earth or a warm gaseous planet like Neptune."

Title is bullsh*t, and people who defend it are a discredit to science. Science should be able to stand on its own without resulting to Fox News tactics.

Jubeebee:TheHighlandHowler: kimwim: So with our present technology, solar sails, radiaoactivaty, the whole thing: how many generations would it take us to get there?

~700,000 years

That sounds about right. Last time I ran the numbers, the fastest proposed propulsion system currently under serious study would go 20 light years in about 47,000 years. So if we throw in a bit of semi-plausible sci-fi, we might be able to get the one-way trip to this place under 100,000 years.

And when they arrive, they'll be greeted by the humans that have been living there for 97,000 years. It's better to wait for more advanced technology, and colonize our own solar system in the mean time.

BraveNewCheneyWorld:Jubeebee: TheHighlandHowler: kimwim: So with our present technology, solar sails, radiaoactivaty, the whole thing: how many generations would it take us to get there?

~700,000 years

That sounds about right. Last time I ran the numbers, the fastest proposed propulsion system currently under serious study would go 20 light years in about 47,000 years. So if we throw in a bit of semi-plausible sci-fi, we might be able to get the one-way trip to this place under 100,000 years.

And when they arrive, they'll be greeted by the humans that have been living there for 97,000 years. It's better to wait for more advanced technology, and colonize our own solar system in the mean time.

Not to mention we will never be capable of building a machine that lasts that long.

taurusowner:BraveNewCheneyWorld: Jubeebee: TheHighlandHowler: kimwim: So with our present technology, solar sails, radiaoactivaty, the whole thing: how many generations would it take us to get there?

~700,000 years

That sounds about right. Last time I ran the numbers, the fastest proposed propulsion system currently under serious study would go 20 light years in about 47,000 years. So if we throw in a bit of semi-plausible sci-fi, we might be able to get the one-way trip to this place under 100,000 years.

And when they arrive, they'll be greeted by the humans that have been living there for 97,000 years. It's better to wait for more advanced technology, and colonize our own solar system in the mean time.

Not to mention we will never be capable of building a machine that lasts that long.

We don't have to build one that will last that long. We just need to figure out constant acceleration. Then it only has to last about 50 years.

Malivon:kimwim: So with our present technology, solar sails, radiaoactivaty, the whole thing: how many generations would it take us to get there?

We wouldn't make it.

Genetically speaking of course.

We'd need a ship large enough to sustain the population and a population that would ultimately be sustaining (both in number, but also in diversity).

Current tech: female crew, lots of frozen sperm and frozen eggs from a large population sampling, in vitro fertilization and select for female gender until destination reached. Name the ship the Theotokos and troll billions.

Future tech: much the same, but artificial wombs activated after reaching the target planet.

NowhereMon:Elzar: 7 times as large as the earth - I don't think you fools understand the gravity of this situation...

It's all about density. A planet can be seven times bigger, but if it's density remained the same as Earth's the gravity might not change all that much, because the surface farther from the center of mass.

Such a planet would be made out of stuff so light it would be useless to us.

These articles drive me nuts. There's more to making a planet habitable to humans than being in the Goldilock Zone. and being a rocky planet. The size of the planet also matters. Too big and it's gravity will not allow for mountains high enough to make land masses and you'll effectively have a water world, too small and it won't be able to maintain an atmosphere and surface water (think Mars). If a planet has 7 times the mass of Earth then it won't matter that it's in the Goldilock Zone and it won't matter that its a rocky planet. We can't live on it.

RedVentrue:NowhereMon: Elzar: 7 times as large as the earth - I don't think you fools understand the gravity of this situation...

It's all about density. A planet can be seven times bigger, but if it's density remained the same as Earth's the gravity might not change all that much, because the surface farther from the center of mass.

Such a planet would be made out of stuff so light it would be useless to us.

midigod:SacriliciousBeerSwiller: They don't even know it's not a freaking gas-ball. The "super earth" speculation seems to serve no purpose but to get people to pay attention to what would otherwise be fairly mundane.

A few years ago the tech to discover exoplanets didn't even exist, and now it's just "mundane?"

Holy shiat.

/no words

Yeah, people get jaded quick here in the future.

Imagine a $20 used iPhome. Today, it would be laughably bad, bought mainly for the "wow a knockoff" kitch factor and not taken seriously.

Send it back to, oh, 2002. "OMG DUUUUUUDES LOOK AT THIS OMG OMG LOOK WHAT IT CAN DO"

NowhereMon:Elzar: 7 times as large as the earth - I don't think you fools understand the gravity of this situation...

It's all about density. A planet can be seven times bigger, but if it's density remained the same as Earth's the gravity might not change all that much, because the surface farther from the center of mass.

yes and that's exactly the problem with earth: too many stupid people.

2words1finger: whargbble Cosmology is nothing but a sunk cost. Paying for a bunch of pasty nerds to stare at the stars and fantasize about a bunch of Star Trek bullshiat serves no practical purpose for humanity. I seriously do not understand why we waste money on stuff like this.

we will extinguish ourselves and everything around us here on earth before the possibility of that 42 light year trip would be economically feasible .....unless we build starships that run on landfill, nuclear waste and stupidity.

then it's just a few minutes away and not long until anything and everything on that planet is wrecked , raped and ruined..then, fill 'er up on twinkies, episodes of Guns and Jugs, have an election or two and WHOOSH!; time to poison up another atmosphere somewhere else..

just remember kids: throw that litter out your window and don't worry, it's not your problem.

2words1finger:Seeing as that we currently can't get humans any farther out into space than a couple hundred miles, I don't really see the point. It's not like we're ever going to get to this planet, so who cares? All the money they're spending on BS programs like this could be put to much better use developing useful technologies like sustainable energy or better farming techniques to help feed the hundreds of millions of starving people in the world. Cosmology is nothing but a sunk cost. Paying for a bunch of pasty nerds to stare at the stars and fantasize about a bunch of Star Trek bullshiat serves no practical purpose for humanity. I seriously do not understand why we waste money on stuff like this.

old and busted: trolling the geek tab with religion bashing. New hotness: trolling the geek tab with astronomy bashing.

NowhereMon:RedVentrue: NowhereMon: Elzar: 7 times as large as the earth - I don't think you fools understand the gravity of this situation...

It's all about density. A planet can be seven times bigger, but if it's density remained the same as Earth's the gravity might not change all that much, because the surface farther from the center of mass.

Such a planet would be made out of stuff so light it would be useless to us.